1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a consumable cartridge and an image forming apparatus that uses a consumable cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among conventional color image forming apparatus are printers, copying machines, and facsimile machines. These apparatus are equipped with detachable process cartridges for respective colors. Each process cartridge is a consumable item that is discarded when the developer (e.g., toner) is exhausted, and includes integrally assembled mechanisms that perform an image forming process of a corresponding color. For example, a color electrophotographic printer of the tandem type employs process cartridges for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black images, attached at predetermined positions for forming the respective color images. Toner cartridges of the respective colors may be attached detachably to corresponding process cartridges.
A process cartridge may have a non-volatile memory that records, for example, the number of printed pages and the amount of remaining toner (Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 10-133544).
The deficiency of the conventional process cartridges is that because they are of the same shape regardless of the color of toner held therein, the process cartridges may be misplaced inadvertently.